Bishkek (AKIpress) - Twelve bars of gold have been recovered from the stomach of a businessman in Delhi (India), In2EastAfrica reported referring to a surgeon treating the man.

The 63-year-old man was admitted to hospital after complaining of vomiting and difficulty defecating.

He told his doctor that he had swallowed a bottle cap in anger, after a fight with his wife.

But when surgeons operated they found gold bars weighing nearly 400 g in his stomach instead of a bottle cap. Doctors said that police and customs authorities had questioned the businessman and confiscated the gold.

India, the world’s largest consumer of gold, has seen a record rise in smuggling after a rise in duty on imports of metal to curb the current account deficit.

The businessman, who had undergone four stomach surgeries in the past and is a diabetic, was admitted to the hospital earlier this month, with symptoms of “acute intestinal obstruction.”

Last year, India’s government hiked the import duty on gold three times to curb demand for the precious metal. Gold imports, which had peaked at 162,000 kg in May 2013, came down to 19,300 kg in November after the hike.